Monday, May 31, 2010

Nathalie's Gourmet Studio @ Solaris Dutamas

It took us a bit longer than expected to finally hit Nathalie's Gourmet Studio, mainly because of its inconvenient hours: it's only open at 9am-6pm and closes on Sundays.

Nevertheless, this smallish, well-hidden outlet is well worth a visit. If you live around Mont Kiara or Sri Hartamas, chef Nathalie Arbefeuille currently whips up some of the best food in your neighborhood. Head here soon, before the crowds discover it.

The menu is compact: 5 starters and 5 main courses, alongside a smattering of desserts.

Roasted vegetable mille-feuille. Chunky and creamy. Still light enough to be an appetite-whetter, but much more substantial than a leafy salad.

Cod fillet in cremolata with hazelnut dressing & pumpkin puree. Meat is scarce on the menu, but even a hardcore carnivore might be temporarily appeased by this fleshy, flawless fish.

There's an entire display counter filled with about a dozen types of macarons, ranging from caramel and nougat to chocolate and coconut, from lime and blackberry to vanilla and passion fruit. Absolutely impeccable, with crisp crusts and airy yet luxurious centers.

Strawberry succes. Kinda like a cross between meringue and ganache, if that even makes sense. Tasted like the best kind of candy, but stay away if you despise very sweet desserts.

Vanilla "mystery" with caramel & praline sauce. Turned out to be dense, nut-covered mousse. Extremely addictive, even if you aren't eight years old.

Check out EAT DRINK, a new F&B website jointly run by The Expat Group (TEG) & Eat Drink KL. This website features all of our up-to-date reviews, plus exclusive weekly articles & a searchable database on restaurants in KL & Selangor: EatDrink.my

Drats, was looking for desserts with Tangechi at Solaris Dutamas on Saturday, and ended up at some other place that had only one dessert available. If only we had known this earlier. Her macarons are probably the best in town.

thamby, YOU lah, some more sean is your bff...you shoulda phoned him to arsk. chis. instead of wasting calories at that awful unmentionable place. as for macarons, yup, i would certainly say hers are the best in town. definitely better than lemon gardens! her macaron classes are also fantastic! all the ppl i've recommended who went have nothing but praise. HOWWWWW does sean get all this heads up on all these new places??? HOW SEAN?

min: thankfully, there's red wine by the glass and bottle, but strangely, no white, considering that most of the food here would go better with a nice chardonnay...lfb: yep, will definitely have another entry on this place very soon, as i wanna sample everything nathalie can dish out! :Dlemongrass: the macarons were selling like crazy! customers kept coming in and taking away boxes of them, undeterred by the 4.40 ringgit price tag for each piece!fbb: sorry to hear about your dessert misadventure! i've only had macarons at senses, mandarin grill and pacifica, but nathalie's trumps them all! too bad i'll never be able to join a cooking class, since i can't tell a cookie cutter from a coconut grater. :Deiling: ahhh, it's mainly about keeping my eyes and ears open. anyways, i mainly focus on dinner outlets in or near the city center, so it's not too difficult =)

The macarons look good here but my sister brought back which she was taught to make herself at another school in KL, which look more authentic with proper 'feet' which makes her feel very good for some reason :-)